Manchester City Responds to Haaland Transfer Claims

Manchester City have moved aggressively to shut down claims from Real Madrid presidential candidate Enrique Riquelme that Erling Haaland is poised to swap Manchester for the Bernabéu – and are now considering legal action.

Riquelme, who will challenge Florentino Pérez in Sunday’s election, lit the fuse on Spanish television when he appeared on El Hormiguero holding up a Madrid shirt with Haaland’s name on the back. With the cameras rolling, he told viewers that a clause in the striker’s contract would allow him to sign the Norwegian if he won the vote.

“Haaland has a release clause and he wants to come to Madrid,” Riquelme declared, turning a campaign appearance into a transfer circus.

City’s response was swift and uncompromising. On Thursday, the club issued a statement flatly rejecting the story and the suggestion that any escape route exists in Haaland’s deal, which was extended in January 2025 to a record nine-and-a-half-year contract.

“The stories which have emerged from Spain regarding the future of Erling Haaland are untrue. There is no chance of this happening and there is no contractual clause to enable it. We are considering legal action for the use of our player image in this context,” City said.

The message was clear: hands off, and stop using Haaland as campaign material.

Haaland camp pushes back

The player’s camp backed City in equally blunt fashion. His father, Alfie Haaland, and his agent, Rafaela Pimenta, dismissed Riquelme’s claims as fiction.

“All very entertaining but not true,” they said, adding that they wished “all the best for both candidates in the Real Madrid elections.”

The denial from both club and representatives leaves Riquelme exposed. Yet he doubled down, using Haaland as the centrepiece of a bold, high-risk pitch to Madrid’s socios.

Rodri the second pillar of Riquelme’s promise

Haaland was not the only City cornerstone dragged into the political theatre. Riquelme also promised that Rodri, the heartbeat of City’s midfield and a Ballon d’Or winner, would be wearing white if he takes power at the Bernabéu.

“He’s a top player, a Ballon d’Or winner in a position where Madrid needs to strengthen. If I become president, Rodri will play for Real Madrid, with all due respect to City,” Riquelme said.

This was not framed as vague ambition. It came wrapped in a dramatic personal pledge. Admitting he lacks the trophy-laden presidential record of Pérez, Riquelme attempted to turn that into a selling point.

“I don’t have the track record of Florentino – I’ve never been president. That’s why I’m committing myself to the two players I’ve announced, backed by a personal notarised guarantee. If I fail to deliver, I will pay 100% of the annual dues of Madrid’s 100,000 members.”

It is an extraordinary promise: two of Manchester City’s most valuable assets held up as collateral in a presidential race.

City, already bracing for a new era after Pep Guardiola’s decision to leave at the end of a decade of dominance, now find their stability being tested from afar. The club’s stance on Haaland is unequivocal. Rodri’s situation, though, sits in a more delicate space.

Rodri hints at crossroads

The 29-year-old’s contract runs out next summer, a significant marker for a player who has become one of the most influential midfielders in the world. Asked this week about his future, Rodri struck a calm but intriguing tone.

“I’m very calm, I know exactly where I stand, and I’ll tell you that perhaps if there hadn’t been a World Cup, things might be different,” he said on Monday.

It was not a declaration of intent to leave, but it was not a door slammed shut either. With Guardiola’s departure looming and Europe’s giants circling, Rodri’s next move will define not just his own prime years, but the shape of City’s midfield for seasons to come.

City test Forest’s resolve over Anderson

While the political noise rages in Madrid, City’s recruitment machine continues to whir. The club have already seen an opening bid for Elliot Anderson rejected by Nottingham Forest, but are expected to come back.

Hugo Viana, City’s sporting director, is preparing an improved offer for the 23-year-old, who has surged into the England picture and is in line to start the opening World Cup game against Croatia on 17 June.

Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis is understood to value Anderson at around £100m – the figure City paid Aston Villa for Jack Grealish in August 2021 and a potential club record fee once again.

City, then, stand at a fascinating intersection: fighting off election-fuelled fantasies about their biggest stars while weighing up whether to match a nine-figure valuation for England’s latest rising midfielder. The legal letters may fly in Madrid, but the real decisions will be made in Manchester’s boardrooms and on the pitch in the months ahead.